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After being gone from it since Star Trek Enterprise, my wife and I got back in with Star Trek Lower Decks (oddly enough). If you can handle it being animated (and goofy), it is actually a very dearly written love-letter to TNG and some of the most important moments in Star Trek lore. We appreciated that it didn't try to reinvent characters that already exist, and did a good job of bringing on old actors for cameos. They bring on people from TNG, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager all the time to reprise their roles.
There's a live-action Star Trek currently running that I can't attest to, but it has a crossover with Lower Decks that means I'm going to give it a try.
My friend. Watch Strange New Worlds. Best Trek since TNG (imho).
It does lean a little towards the silly more than I’d generally like, but even the silly is good.
And the cross over episode was top notch.
I really need to give that a try, I haven't got round to it, but I keep seeing recommendations
Ill give Lower decks a shot!
I do have to say one of the things that has turned me off from the ones I've tried to start up is the repeated attempts to revive/reinvent the old characters. Not a fan of reboots.
Lower Decks does have some legacy characters as guest stars. Riker, Paris, Troi, Q, Quark, Kira and a few others all make appearances. But those are cameo type appearances and the focus of the show is on new characters.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Star_Trek:_Lower_Decks_characters#Guest_characters
A quick rundown of what is out there:
TOS - the original series - I don't think it holds up too well, only watch if you get into Trek.
Suggested episodes - trouble with tribbles and balance of terror
TNG - the next generation - the basis of modern Trek. Probably what most people think of with star Trek
Eps - measure of a man, darmok, inner light and cause and effect
DS9 - deep space nine - my favorite, the story of the dominion war and the fate of cardasaia. It has a slow start but really picks up
Eps - duet and in the pale moonlight
VOY - voyager - I'm not a fan but it's popular, jerri Ryan and Robert Picardo are the best parts of the show
Eps - year of hell pts 1&2
ENT - enterprise - it's been a long road getting from there to here, but your time is finally here. It's campy and bad, but I love it. Go in with low expectations and come out with a love of Shran.
Eps - not going up suggest any, quality tends to trend upwards over the course of the show, but there isn't any one episode that highlights anything good about the show.
DISCO - discovery - the start of nutrek. It isn't as bad as some people say, but it isn't great. There are some good characters, I like Tilly, some neat twists and callbacks (Lorka) but on a whole it's just meh.
Eps - none for DISCO every episode builds towards a season arc pretty directly, so it's not good to watch out of order
Picard - it's bad. Season 3 is better if you are a big fan of TNG, DS9 and VOY, as an entry point it's awful.
Eps - I didn't enjoy any enough to recommend
LD - lower decks - funny animated star Trek. I think it's great, but very referential to old series. Not a good jumping on point.
Eps - wej Duj and much ado about Boimler
SNW - strange new worlds - still running and great. An excellent jumping on point, pretty and well acted
Eps - ad astra per aspera and the Elysian Kingdom
Ok, so as a starter, I'd recommend that someone going by the above do a kind of seven episode primer on Star Trek and what it's about. Moral/Ethical philosophy.
TOS - Balance of Terror, is preemptive aggression ever justified?
TNG - Measure of a Man, what makes a person a person?
DS9 - In The Pale Moonlight, do the ends justify the means?
VOY - I'd go with Equinox parts I & II over Year of Hell, but also a "do the ends justify the means."
ENT - Judgement, is justice arbitrary or universal?
Skip DISCO, plenty of issues to be examined but each one takes a whole season.
Skip LD, there's a few issues but they're not as well presented.
SNW - Strange New World
+1 for Equinox. The Void from season 7 also covers similar ground, with a dose of 'maybe Starfleet's ways of thinking are correct'.
@Emperor_Cartagia @ScrivenerX How is there not a Prime Directive episode on that list?
There are good prime directive episodes, but on a whole they just aren't good intros to the shows.
For example, Pen Pals from TNG has some great moments. The crew indulging Data, everyone knowing Data has an emotional connection with the little alien girl, except Data. Good discussion about the morality of intervention. And a large chunk is Wes being whiny also pretty goofy make up on alien girls hands. It's good, but not an intro to Trek good.
Excellent recap!
to get back into Star Trek I would recommend either Strange New Worlds or Lower Decks. Strange New Worlds is Star Trek heart and soul. Lower Decks is a comedy but also does a great job capturing the heart and soul of Star Trek.
Strange New Worlds is a great starting point. SNW is set in the 5 year mission before Kirk's 5 year mission on the enterprise. There are some arcs that you might not get but it's not necessary to know what the episode is about because it is episodic. I watched the corresponding TOS / Discovery episodes with Captain Pike after I watched the SNW episodes to fill in the parts that I really didn't get but here is a list of the episodes I watched.
The Menagerie Part 1 and 2 (TOS) -> Through the Valley of Shadows (DIS) -> A quality of Mercy (SNW) -> Balance of Terror (TOS)
Picard season 3 is an absolute must if you watched next gen / DS9. For the whole season to make sense you'll probably want to watch the last 2 seasons of DS9. If you watch the last 2 episodes of picard season 3, watch TNG's best of both worlds part 1 & 2, All good things... (the series finale), and Voyager's Endgame (the series finale) it'll make more sense.
the last 2 seasons of DS9 is very political and heavy but many people say it's the best trek - however now SNW is getting close to taking the title.
Snw & lower decks. They'll get you started and you can pick up additional from there
The movies with Chris Pine.
jk lol
Start with The Next Generation, just remember the first two seasons are the weakest by far. Really picks up in S3/4.
Then do DS9 and Voyager. Enterprise is worth watching if you get there.
Or start watching Strange New Worlds, it's freaking awesome and modern but has the same feel as old Trek.
I stand by my claim that TNG is better when Riker has a beard and its best when Geordi has a beard!
I rewatched TNG in its entirety during peak pandemic. Season 1 is pretty painful, but the rest holds up well. I tried to watch DS9 afterwards and bounced off it pretty hard. It’s got such a different vibe from TNG. Voyager is a little closer to TNG, but missing some of the campiness that I enjoy.
I’m really liking Lower Decks, Strange New Worlds, and Picard Season 3 (avoid Picard Seasons 1&2 at all costs, just skip them as they have nothing to do w/ S3).
I tried watching TNG a few times and holy shit it was so bad. There's no way I can slog through two seasons to get to the decent bits
Start with s3e1, wayyy better
@nutbiggums @Son_of_dad There's an episode in Season 2 "Q Who" that you should watch before plowing into Season 3 since it introduces the borg. Otherwise, you're not missing much, and if you really end up loving the series you can always go back and watch the first two seasons with rose colored glasses.
TNG, in my opinion. It's arguable about it being the best, but I think it's the fairest entry point. It was meant as a starting point in a way other shows were not.
First 2 seasons are bad, so I'd recommend an episode guide to skip past the offensive and bad.
Many of us feel the impulse to recommend whichever Trek first pulled us in. Others are completists or like to get everything in release or chronological order.
I see lots of recommendations starting along these lines here. That might not best for you OP. I’ve had the personal experience of watching everything in first run in release order, but I don’t know if I would attempt that if I were wanting to break back in after a long hiatus.
If you liked the original 1960s show (TOS) with Kirk, Spock and McCoy, Strange New Worlds may be your best entry point now. It takes place on the original Enterprise under an earlier captain, 10ish years before the time of the original show. Kirk and Spock are the same people you know but younger, and necessarily played by new actors. It’s designed to be a gateway show for fans who’ve never seen any Star Trek so you won’t be lost trying to figure out where things fit in. (The movies with Chris Pine as Kirk are set in a separate universe.)
If you were a Next Generation fan, then you might wish to start with Picard season three or Lower Decks.
Definitely don't start with Picard. Aside from the IP, it isn't recognizable as Star Trek.
To you.
they did say picard season 3, which aside from missing out on some of the background given by seasons 1 and 2 is by far the superior season
Watch season 3 of Picard
Just watch The Orville instead.
I second this the orville is the best star trek show since deep space 9
In that both The Orville and DS9 miss the point of Star Trek despite being made by people who clearly like Star Trek.
Sorry, I know I'm alone in being grumpy about DS9, but I've been grumpy about DS9 since the 90s.
My vote is for Strange New Worlds. I don't hate The Orville, I think it's funny and has its own sense of internal consistency, but I'd definitely watch it as a loving parody from a different political tack. If one is into academia or analytically-minded, comparing where the humor comes from in Lower Decks and The Orville would be a fantastic paper or video essay to put together, though.
@Princeofspace @StandingCat Terrible take! I love The Orville, but it doesn't replace Trek in any way.
It feels more like Trek than anything from this decade.
The first season came closer to TOS than any other show imo
this post was submitted on 26 Jul 2023
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